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User blog:Meringuepie/Idol making guide: Episode 3 - Physical traits and details
Here comes the fun part of the visual design: physical traits and details! This is way easier than designing clothing, however it doesn't mean you can just design them like a random crack generator on Shindanmaker. First off, you have to choose their species. There are a whole selection of humanoids and non-humanoids in Splatoon that you can choose. The most popular choices are Inklings and Octolings, however, you can also choose another species or even make up one! If you want something more than Inklings and Octolings (or humanoid), just go here if you want a list of known species (other than Inklings and Octolings too, of course), or visit Fanlings wiki for fanmade reference. Once you have chosen your idols' species, make it specific. If you choose Inkling, which species of Inkling? (hover to Wikipedia and start your creative search if you want~) I know that some people are too lazy to make things specific, but it's actually quite fun. You can take the traits of the specific species in real life and apply it to your idols' design! (ex. Pearl is a southern pygmy squid, which is why she appears small.) Each specific type of a species have their own unique traits, from unique tentacle spots to vibrant neon colors! It is a very interesting detail you can add to your characters' physical designs. Now that you have your species, let's go deal with the real business here. You can make their skin color, age, and body height/weight/type anything you want. After that, add in the little details! *Beauty marks. Look at the cannon idols closely, and you'll see that they all have mirroring beauty marks! Just choose a location on one of your idols' face, stick a beauty mark on, and do the same for the other (but put it in the opposite side of the face.) Those aren't really a must, but if you like them, go for them! *Hair color. There is the base and ink color. (ex. Callie: black hair with magenta ink / Marie: silvery gray hair with apple green ink / Pearl: cream blond hair with candy pink ink / Marina: plum brown hair with teal ink) You can do loads of different combinations! Get creative! **Base color: light and dark. You can get one of them to have black hair while the other has white/ gray hair. Or, if you want to get more creative, you can also use blond/ cream and brown hair too! Any combination of light and dark will work. **(Main)Ink color: any combination of two different colors, really. If you want your idols to stand out from each other, use colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel (also called complementary)! (green/red or pink, blue/orange, yellow/purple, etc). Using colors analogous to each other is okay, however in my opinion, it doesn't make each of them stand out and look similar. If you have a trio or four-piece group, you can use triadic color schemes or square color schemes for their ink colors. **There are exceptions too, like if your idols' species limit the hair color into something else. However, what are the fun in exceptions? *Important reminder here! Please follow the tentacle rule. Inklings have a maximum of 6 tentacles used as hair while Octolings have 4. Why? Because the four remaining limbs count as their humanoid limbs (legs and arms). If you're breaking this rule, try to come up with a better excuse other than "OH it'S a mUtATIon thAT MaKEs ThEm grow MoRe TeNtaCLEs! that'S whY they lOok So SPeCIal-".(sorry I'm a bit salty on this one) *Hairstyle. This is the fun (and hard part). Don't make their hair look the same! Try out symmetrical and asymmetrical styles, as well as experiment with short and long hair! The more different they are from each other, the better! (however, if their aesthetic is similar and you want their hairstyles to follow a specific style, like the Squid Sisters both having bow-tied hairstyles, that's okay! Go for it!) *Eyes!!! This is my favorite part! Most idols will have fancy eyelids/ eyelashes and beautiful irises that resemble different symbols. You can choose any colors (or mix them) for the eyes and irises. If your idols are related to each other in terms of family, they can have the same eye color and irises. If you want to reflect bits of their personality, check out tsurime/ tareme eyes! *When choosing iris shapes, refer to the ones in real life (like octopus∞ or cuttlefish w-shape), base it off their themes, use simple geometric shapes, symbols, etc. *Additional details like glowy neon fingertips, unusual traits , etc... Your choice! That's all I have to say in this episode of Make-An-Idol. Hope you guys find this one helpful! What should I write about in the next episode? Any comments, criticism, opinions, suggestions, or questions? Feel like something is missing in the list? Write them out in the comment section! Any thanks will be appreciated. Stay fresh off the hook! Category:Blog posts